


You could be my sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare

by AStrangeDaze (TerraRising)



Series: Ongniel Food Adventures [2]
Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, M/M, My terrible track record says no, Will I ever write them not dumb and pining?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 07:15:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15310215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TerraRising/pseuds/AStrangeDaze
Summary: It's all just fun and games; we're just in it for the cheap food, right?





	You could be my sweet dream or a beautiful nightmare

“Open wide.”

 

Daniel is smiling with his eyes, both of them crinkled up endearingly, lips slightly puckered as he sings his request to Seongwoo in a babyish tone.

 

The older man can feel his eyebrow twitch a bit at the deliberate saccharine display but under the watching eyes of the other patrons who have been watching, fascinated by their increasingly over-the-top displays of affection much in the way one watches a bad movie (waiting with bated breath to see if it _really_ can get worse, if the ending will justify the past hour and a half you wasted of your life), he opens his mouth obediently and lets Daniel feed him a strawberry dipped in way too much chocolate.

 

“Is it good?”

 

 _Two can play at this game_ , Seongwoo thinks to himself and musters up a smitten smile as he leans forward on his elbows to bop Daniel on the nose. “Of course,” he chirps, “Anything tastes good when you feed it to me, sweetheart.”

 

Spearing a marshmallow, Seongwoo veritably _drowns_ it in the melt chocolate before dunking it into the tiny saucer of colourful sprinkles, holding up the mouthful of diabetes to Daniel’s lips with a smile of his own, “Your turn!”

 

To his credit, Daniel doesn’t even grimace, only opens his mouth obscenely wide and eats the marshmallow in one bite, pausing to wiggle his eyebrows at Seongwoo suggestively and the older man can’t help but laugh into his hand. “Stop it,” he complains with an exaggerated whine, willing a blush to his cheeks to make it more believable though it wasn’t very hard to do given he was genuinely feeling a bit flustered by the other man’s actions, “We’re in public!”

 

A man to their left snorts and mumbles something that sound suspiciously like ‘like that’s stopped you guys so far’ but neither of the two pay him any mind, dead set on not losing whatever this odd game between them was.

 

In response, Daniel’s voice drops an octave and Seongwoo knows he probably should not be finding it this attractive but he’s unable to stop the shiver from running back the down of his spine as the low timbre of Daniel’s response washes over him. “I can’t help it,” the younger murmurs as he reaches over to feed Seongwoo another chocolate covered strawberry half, this time with his bare fingers, “not when my baby is so beautiful.”

 

Seongwoo licks his lips wordlessly and lets his mouth fall open again, letting Daniel press the piece of fruit against his tongue while struggling to maintain eye contact with Daniel whose gaze has turned smoldering at some point. He doesn’t know what possesses him when Daniel pulls his hand back but he reaches out to wrap his fingers around Daniel’s wrist as if in a trance. Daniel lets him take it, silently questioning, and Seongwoo drops his gaze, feels his eyelashes brush the top of his cheeks as he feigns coyness.

 

“You’ve got chocolate on your finger,” he breathes and then, against his better judgement, he leans forward a little and licks the chocolate off even as his mind is screaming _what the buggering fuck are you doing, Ong Seongwoo?!_

 

He jerks back, coming to his senses suddenly, drops Daniel’s hand as if it had scalded him, and turns his head away, shooting to his feet and muttering an excuse that he needed to use the washroom before rushing off. Seongwoo is gone before Daniel can respond, feeling his cheeks burn fiercely under the weight of the gaze of the other patrons around them; it seemed to him as if they were all staring at him. Shouldering the washroom door open roughly, he stumbled to the sink and cranked on the cold water, splashing it against his face in an effort to calm down, taking deep heaving breaths as he stared at himself in the mirror.

 

 _It was just a game_ , he thought to himself, _I’ve gotten too caught up in our little games, that was all. I’ll apologize and we’ll never have to speak of it again_.

 

Seongwoo strolls over to the napkin dispenser, pulling out several sheets with a deliberate calm and then set about patting his face dry, checking in the mirror to make sure unsightly pieces did not get stuck on his skin. It was ridiculous how comfortable he felt with Daniel already, that was what it was. They had been texting back and forth incessantly for the past week until it seemed to become second nature to message the other man first thing in the morning and fall asleep laughing to himself over Daniel’s last message to him late at night.

 

 _It’s just pretend_ , he reminds himself as he chucked the used napkins into the waste bin with much more force than was needed, _just pretend. Get with the program, Ong Seongwoo, don’t do anything stupid again._

 

He walks back to their table with his head held high, smile carefully plastered to his face, “Sorry about that, honey.”

 

Seongwoo barely suppresses his flinch when Daniel reaches over to intertwine their fingers the moment that Seongwoo is seated with real concern in his eyes, “Are you alright? Are you feeling ill? Do we need to go?”

 

“No,” Seongwoo squeezes back briefly before pulling his hand back, “Sorry if I startled you, I’m fine.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

“Positive,” he declares, picking up a piece of cake and, dipping it in the leftover chocolate, he pops it into his mouth with a wink, “You’re here with me, darling, why wouldn’t I be fine?”

 

* * *

 

“Thank you, please come again!” the giggling waitress waved to them both as they exited the restaurant and they waved back politely, Daniel clasping Seongwoo’s hand tightly in his, watching the older man carefully for any sign of distress.

 

The older man’s actions this afternoon had surprised him. The flicker of heat that had been burning low in the base of his stomach for the entire of their “date” had blazed through Daniel the moment Seongwoo’s tongue teased against his finger. For a second Daniel had felt breathless, had been willing and wanting to be seduced. A part of him feels like he’s almost been waiting for a change in their interactions ever since they made that silly agreement to pretend to date each other for the sake of couple’s discounts.

 

But then Seongwoo had rocketed to his feet and run off, and while Daniel could breathe again, the other’s abrupt departure had been a stark reminder that they had both edged too far in their game until one them finally crossed a line. Because that was what it was.

 

A game.

 

And Daniel had never been reminded of this more strongly than when Seongwoo returned and proceeded to pretend nothing was wrong, _to pretend they were still a couple madly in love._ So he had played along, what choice did he have? It was a hole he had dug himself into, he had accepted Seongwoo’s proposal when he should have refused, should have told the other man that he found him interesting, captivating. That he wanted to take him out on a date, a real one, but instead all he had done was trap himself with this little arrangement of their’s.

 

A contract. An act. Not real.

 

But if it was an act he had agreed to, then fine, Daniel could play it up just as well as Seongwoo. He holds Seongwoo’s hand just a little tighter, threading their fingers together and swinging their joined hands up so he could press a kiss to the back of Seongwoo’s hand, admiring his long fingers even as the older man looked at him curiously.

 

“Daniel?”

 

“Hmm?” he flipped Seongwoo’s hand over and pressed a lingering kiss to his pulse point, delighting in the slight flush that coloured the tops of Seongwoo’s cheeks at his actions.

 

“What are you doing?” the other asks, bemused.

 

“Admiring you,” he admits, though the way Seongwoo throws his head back and laughs tells him the older man isn’t taking him seriously, doesn’t know that the words Daniel has uttered were earnest and true.

 

“You sap,” Seongwoo teases, “Are you this dedicated even without an audience?”

 

“Who said anything about practice?” Daniel offers with a bright grin, eyes lingering on the way Seongwoo ducks his head towards his shoulder, suddenly shy, the motion hopelessly endearing.

 

“Well,” Seongwoo coughs into his fist, pulling his hand free of Daniel’s grip though he loathed to let go, “I guess I’ll see you another time?”

 

Daniel opens his mouth, wanting nothing more than to ask him to stay. Wants to suggest something else, a movie, a walk through the park, anything at all to prolong their time together, but he holds himself back. He doesn’t want to presume, doesn’t want to overstay his welcome when Seongwoo is so clearly dedicated only to keeping up this charade. It was best not to ruin things until he could think of a way to fix it, best not to push too hard and lose even this new but easy friendship.

 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll uh, call you up when I spot another deal?” he offers, hoping his smile isn’t half as awkward as it feels on his face.

 

“Yeah, sounds like a plan,” Seongwoo grins, taking an aborted step forwards before shaking his head and stepping into Daniel’s personal space, arms coming up around Daniel in a hesitant hug, “I’ll see you around.”

 

He slips away before Daniel can shake himself out of his shock at the unexpected affectionate gesture, waving goodbye and walking away without another backwards glance.

 

“Yeah,” Daniel swallows thickly, kicking himself for not hugging Seongwoo back when he had the chance, for not holding on for even just a second when he had the other man _literally_ in his arms, “I’ll see you around.”

 

* * *

 

“Hyung!”

 

Seongwoo stumbles under the weight of an eager Guanlin who tackles him the moment he walks in through the front door having jumped from the lower landing of the stairs in his excitement. He nearly trips over the younger boy’s long limbs, those spidery legs coming up to tangle around his as the teen giggles into Seongwoo’s shoulder, refusing to let go.

 

“Linlin,” he groans, “Get off, you’re heavy.”

 

“I thought you worked out, hyung,” Guanlin teases, standing on his own feet now but still clinging stubbornly, letting Seongwoo drag his long form behind him as he trudges through the hallway into the living room, “Can’t you carry me?”

 

“Not when you eat this much,” Seongwoo snarks, reaching backwards to poke at Guanlin’s stomach until the younger squeals ticklishly, falling away from him unto the couch while laughing.

 

“Hyung, hyung,” the younger calls, pulling on Seongwoo’s jeans, “Come sit down, let’s watch a movie, I’m bored.”

 

“Aww, Linlin,” Seongwoo coos, sitting down heavily and leaning over to squish his youngest roommate’s cheeks between his palms, “Are you lonely? Have the others not been playing with you?”

 

Guanlin whines and pulls Seongwoo’s hands away from his face though he’s still grinning, “Woojin hyung and Jihoon hyung lost our bet so they had to go pick up dinner, and Daehwi and Jinyoung hyung are holed up in their rooms on their computers. Seongwoo hyung, you were gone all day; pay attention to me!”

 

Seongwoo laughs at the puppyish whine coming from Guanlin even as the other flops over his lap in a bid to physically stop him from leaving. “Alright, alright, pick the movie then.”

 

Guanlin cheers and then fumbles to grab the remote, pulling up their shared Netflix account and puts Fast and Furious even as Seongwoo snorts, “Again?”

 

“You said I could pick,” Guanlin sings, unrepentant even though he must have forced their entire house to marathon the series at least ten times now.

 

Seongwoo sighs and settles into the couch, throwing an arm over Guanlin’s bony shoulders as the boy wiggles in his seat eagerly, “I suppose I did.”

 

They’re halfway throught he film when the front door bursts open and Jihoon and Woojin stumble inside, arms suspiciously free though Seongwoo can already smell the scent of take-out, “We’re home! And we brought guests!”

 

“What they mean,” a bemused Minki strolls in, Jonghyun following behind him with arms laden with white plastic bags, “is they ran into us at the end of Jonghyun’s shift and not only suckered Jonghyun into giving him a discount, they talked him into coming over as well so they would get a free delivery service.”

 

“I don’t see you helping me,” Jonghyun snarked good-naturedly even as Minki sniffs and flips his hair in answer.

 

Minki strides over into the living room even as the twin terrors go banging up the stairs, hollering for Daehwi and Jinyoung to come out of their rooms and eat, dropping heavily unto the couch on Seongwoo’s other side, “What’re we watching. Oh, Fast and Furious again, Guanlin?”

 

“It’s a good movie!” the boy protests, eyes glued to the screen.

 

“You’ve seen it a thousand times,” Minki rolls his eyes, “It’ll rot your brain. Hey Seongwoo.”

 

“Hey Minki, hey Jonghyun, need any help?”

 

Jonghyun laughs and drops everything onto the dining table, “I think I’ve been over enough time to know my way around, but thank you for at least offering unlike _someone I know._ ”

 

Minki doesn’t so much as twitch at the pointed barb, turning instead to shove his phone in Seongwoo’s face, “Well?”

 

Seongwoo rears back, pushing the phone away with a scowl, “Well what?”

 

Minki scoffs. “What do you mean, well what? When were you going to tell us about tall, cute, and hunky?” he demands, gesturing at the picture on his phone.

 

Seongwoo takes a proper look at the picture and almost chokes. There in HD quality was a clear shot of Daniel feeding him a strawberry from this afternoon.

 

“That’s not what is looks like,” he blurts out, snatching the phone and hiding it behind his back before Guanlin can take a peek.

 

Minki rolls his eyes, “I don’t know what _else_ that could possibly be but _exactly_ what it looks like, Seongwoo-ah, don’t play dumb now.”

 

“It really isn’t,” Seongwoo insists, “We’re just friends.”

 

“Just _friends_?” Minki repeats incredulous, “That is most definitely not friend behaviour Ong Seongwoo.”

 

“What isn’t friend behaviour?” Jihoon’s voice pipes up behind them even as he swoops in to swipe the phone out of Seongwoo’s hands, “Oh _damn_ hyung, that is definitely not friend behaviour. Hey, is this phone guy?”

 

“Phone guy?” Minki latches onto the new information immediately and Seongwoo groans, hiding his face, “Jihoonie, don’t leave me hanging, Seongwoo here has been a terrible friend and keeping secrets, you have to make up for it.”

 

“There’s this guy Seongwoo hyung has been texting nonstop lately,” Jihoon divulges without any hesitation, the traitor, “He won’t tell us his name so I just call him phone guy, but hyung has been smiling at his phone like an idiot every day.”

 

“I have _not_ -”

 

“You were laughing to yourself every time your phone lit up during dinner last night,” Woojin pops in to weigh in with his two cents, the little devil, “Stop denying it, hyung. Is he your _boyfriend_?”

 

Seongwoo swipes the phone back from Jihoon and deletes the picture amidst Minki’s protests. “We’re _not_ dating,” he insists, the admission a bitter weight on his tongue, “We’re just friends. I laugh because he’s funny. You’re all taking this picture out of context.”

 

“He’s feeding you a chocolate covered strawberry while you stare into his eyes like one of those lovesick couples in a drama,” Minki deadpans, “There _is_ no other context.”

 

“We were just pretending for the couples discount!” Seongwoo blurts out.

 

“Hyung,” Jihoon shakes his head slowly in mock disappointment, “That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard from you.”

 

“I’m telling you the truth,” Seongwoo insists, “What do I need to do for you guys to believe me? Can we just drop this already?”

 

“I’m not the one suggesting some flimsy-ass excuse that stinks of a bad b-list romcom is the truth,” Minki snarks.

 

“Guys,” Jonghyun finally speak up, “If Seongwoo says that they’re not dating, then they’re not dating. Just leave him alone, food is getting cold.”

 

“ _Thank you_ ,” Seongwoo breathes, standing up and glaring at the three trouble makers, “At least someone believes me.”

 

“He’ll tell as when he’s ready,” Jonghyun continues and Seongwoo whirls around to shoot him a wounded look before groaning and throwing his hands up in surrender.

 

“Whatever, I’m done, let’s just eat.”

 

“So you admit you’re dating?” Jihoon hedges with a sly grin.

 

“We are _not_ ,” Seongwoo hisses, stopping into the dinning area.

 

“Right, right, well, whenever you’re ready to admit it.”

 

Seongwoo think of his blunder this afternoon and flushes, biting his lips to get rid of the phantom feeling of fingers ghosting across sensitive skin.  _Never_ , he thought to himself,  _it was nothing and never would be. After all, it was just pretend._

 

 

_Only ever just pretend._


End file.
